The Royal College of Ophthalmologists appoints new Vice President for Policy and Communications

14 February 2019

Declan Flanagan, consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital, has been appointed as the new Vice President for Policy and Communications at The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth). Declan will officially take up the post following the RCOphth AGM in May at this year’s Annual Congress in Glasgow.

In this role Declan will support the RCOphth President and leadership team in the delivery of the new strategic plan which is currently in development. He will also represent the RCOphth, both internally and externally, on high level policy matters such as workforce while working with the Policy & Communications team to ensure a joined-up approach across the College to improve efficiencies and maximise the impact of our work.

No stranger to the internal RCOphth governance structures, Declan held a position as a Regional Advisor in East Anglia from 1998 to 2005 and served on the Training committee from 2003 to 2009. The RCOphth welcomes Declan back to his new role and looks forward to working collaboratively over the next three years of his term as Vice President.

Declan said of his new role, ‘I am delighted to be offered the post of Vice President for Policy & Communications. The RCOphth has a crucial role in promoting the profession of ophthalmology and how our standards positively benefit our patients. I am joining at a time when RCOphth is developing the new three-year strategy to meet the challenges facing our members and patients in terms of increasing demand. I look forward to working with the president and the leadership teams to advance this work.’

Outgoing Vice President for Policy and Communications, Stephen Vernon, said, ‘I wish Declan well in his new role and am sure that he will find it as absorbing as I have over the last three years. As well as helping to ensure continuity across the core service activities of the College, the role involves engaging with other professionals, lay organisations, the media and politicians. It is a role that best suits those such as Declan with broad clinical and managerial experience.’

About Declan FlanaganAfter completing his training in Southampton and Moorfields, Declan went on take up a consultant post in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon in 1984. Here he established a comprehensive medical retinal service and was appointed as Medical Director of Hinchingbrooke Hospital from 2001 to 2004.

In 2004 Mr Flanagan joined the Medical Retinal Service of Moorfields Eye Hospital, where he became Deputy Medical Director in 2007 and then Medical Director in 2010. Declan retired from the post of Medical Director in 2018 but remains in active NHS and private medical retinal practice. His current management responsibilities include Clinical Quality & Safety in Moorfields Private as well as Chairman of the Joint Research Governance Committee between Moorfields and the Institute of Ophthalmology in UCL.

About The Royal College of OphthalmologistsThe Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) is the only professional body for eye doctors, who are medically qualified and have undergone or are undergoing specialist training in the prevention, treatment and management of eye disease, including surgery. As an independent charity, we pride ourselves on providing impartial and clinically based evidence, putting patient care and safety at the heart of everything we do.